Object retriever



June 19, 1962 1.. F. BURKE OBJECT RETRIEVER Filed Aug. 19, 1959 Lawrence E Burke ZNVENTOR. BY Ema/53a WW 3M5 United States Patent 3,039,159 OBJECT RETRIEVER Lawrence F. Burke, P.0. Box 231, Longview, Tex. Filed Aug. 19, 1959, Ser. No. 834,865 1 Claim. (Cl. 2481) This invention relates to an article retention device and more particularly to a device for preventing an object from falling on the ground, a floor, etc., when thrown from a high chair, a stroller, etc.

Briefly, the retriever in accordance with the invention is constructed of a clamp, a cord, and means on the cord by which to grip the object. The clamp is so designed that it may be attached to edges of various baby furniture articles, strollers, etc. The cord is secured to the clamp and is of a length less than the distance between the clamp and the ground, floor or other surface on. which the baby furniture or vehicle is disposed. Consequently, when the child drops or throws the object which is connected to the cord, from the baby vehicle or furniture, it does not fall to the ground, floor, etc., but remains suspended by the cord. This achieves two results. It prevents the object from becoming soiled by falling on the floor and prevents the floor from being soiled should there be baby food or the like on the object. The second achievement is that the child may learn to retrieve the object himself, thereby being educational to this extent and furnishing amusement for the child.

Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a retriever for objects used by babies when they are in baby furniture or in a baby vehicle or in some other type of holding medium for the child.

A further object of the invention is to provide an object retriever as aforesaid, wherein the construction is exceedingly simple and capable of being produced at a very low unit cost.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary perspective view of a high chair showing the object retriever attached thereto in the operative position;

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of FIGURE 3.

In the accompanying drawing there is illustrated a fragmentary part of a high chair which has a tray 12. The high chair 10 merely diagrammatically represents any type of support for the child whether at play, eating, at rest, or being transported from one place to another or for any other purpose. The invention is embodied in a retriever 14 for small objects. A typical object is spoon 16, and the principal function of the object retriever 14 is to prevent an object such as spoon 16, from falling on the floor, ground or other supporting surface for the article of furniture 10.

Retriever 14 is made of a clamp 18 to which cord 20 is secured. The cord may be of light weight material, easily washed. One such material is nylon although it is evident that other materials of construction may be substituted. The same holds true for clamp 18. Structura-lly, clamp 18 is made of a pair of arms 24 and 26 (FIG. 2) with outwardly diverging end parts or handles 28 and 30, adjacent intermediate parts 32 and 34, and arcuate parts 36 and 38 which form a pair of jaws 40. A torsion spring 42 is located between intermediate parts 32 and 34 and may rest within confronting recesses formed in the adjacent surfaces of parts 32 and 34 so as to seat the spring. The spring has arms 44 and 46 at the ends thereof, and the extremities of the arms are disposed in notches 48 and 50 in the outer surfaces of the intermediate parts of arms 24 and 26. The bias of the spring 24 is in a direction tending to hold jaws 40 in the closed position so that they may be clamped onto a convenient part of furniture, e.g., tray 12.

Cord 20 has a knot 54 at the upper end thereof, and the cord is passed through an aperture 56 in the arcuate part 38 of arm 26. This holds one end of the cord securely fastened to the clamp 18.

The opposite end of the cord is passed through a pair of passages 60 and 62 that extend through block 64. As shown in FIGURE 3, the passages are parallel to each other and there is a knot 66 at the extremity of cord 20. By having the cord pass through these parallel passages, a loop 70 is formed in the cord by which to grip in lanyard fashion, an object such as spoon 16, and hold it firmly attached thereto. The frictional engagement between the surfaces of passages 60, 62 and the surface of cord 20 is sufficient to maintain the loop 70 closed about a portion of spoon 16.

In use the clamp 18 is engaged with a part of the furniture supporting the child, e.g. a high chair tray. The object which the parent desired to prevent from falling on the floor, spoon 16 in the illustration, is engaged in the loop 70 of cord 20. Therefore, when the spoon falls or is thrown from the high chair, it will not fall on the floor but will be maintained at a position elevated above the floor so that the parent or child may recover the object by simply pulling up the cord 20. The clamp 18 and block 64 may be formed from plastic or any other suitable material. The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

An article holder comprising in combination a clamp including a pair of spring-biased arms forming a pair of handles at one end and a pair of opposing jaws at the other end whereby said jaws may be clamped to a support, one of said arms being provided adjacent its jaw with an aperture, a flexible cord having one end portion thereof extending through said aperture, a knot provided at said one end of said cord and engaging said one of said arms to retain the cord in said aperture, a block having upper and lower faces and provided with a pair of spaced parallel passages having open ends at the upper and lower faces of the block, the other end portion of said cord extending downwardly and slidably through one of said passages and then upwardly through the other passage'whereby to form an article receiving loop in the cord at the lower face of said block, and a knot provided on said other end of the cord in engagement with the upper face of the block whereby to prevent the cord from sliding downwardly through said other passage, said loop being adjustable as to size by sliding of the cord in said one of said passages.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 980,162 Meyer Dec. 27, 1910 4 Mahoney July 19, Warnock Oct. 31, Dalzell Sept. 22, Canaan a July 13, Bollinger Nov. 18, Danielson Sept. 11, Paprocki et a1 Dec. 10, Clevett et a1. Apr. 29,

FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain Italy Mar. 24, 

